An issue with being on more than one language exchange?

So today I’m going to talk about a problem I’ve had. If you’re anything like me and you’re on more than one language exchange site or plan to be in the future please heed my advice!

One issue I’ve come across frequently but have been crapped on how to handle it is the problem of acquiring too manycontacts. When you’re on a good language exchange for a while you’ll keep getting contact requests and sometimes, whether It be because they seem really nice, can genuinely help you study your language, or they just seem pretty hot, you’ll end up accepting most of them. Every time. Being someone who likes everything in one place I tend to give my Facebook or Skype ID to people who want to learn English and can teach me Japanese or Korean. Since I’m on about 3 sites (2 of which are very active), this has created a problem for me. I have too many people on my social networks and half on them I rarely, if never, even talk to. I therefore went through a clean up process. I deleted anyone I had never spoken to and was sure I probably never would, I deleted people who just weren’t helping me and who I hadn’t spoken to in a reasonable amount of time. I kept the people I talk to regularly and who are either well prepared to teach me or who I love speaking with. I now have a select group of people with whom I’m happy to spend time on.

My overall advice? When you have a small group or event just one or two people you can really sit down and talk with, stop accepting requests from people on your lang exchange sites, or even suspend your account! Some sites with a status or description can be useful as you can let people know you’re not taking requests anymore. The problem with having too many people is that you’ll eventually find it tiring and tedious to keep up with skyping everyone, spending a good amount of time messaging everyone and making sure you’re getting relevant info back and forth between the two of you. If all you’re doing is saying ‘Hi!’ let ’em go. It’s in the best interest of both of you and your time!